Irish bagpipes solo, Decca F 3818. Walsh's 1933 recordings included "Figure Dances" such as this one, and the Fairy Reel, Walls of Limerick, Rogha an Fhile, and Stack of Barley (which doesn't include the hornpipe of that name). These two jigs are played with outstanding punch and lift, Walsh was much more at home in the studio by this time and had perfected his very exciting combination of regulator tapping and lovely swinging chanter playing.
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, Decca F 3818. The label merely says "Figure Dance: The Fairy Reel," which like about half of Walsh's 1933 recordings was marketed as a ceili dance recording - the Fairy Reel is a group dance having nothing to do with the Scottish reel of that name, much like the Stack of Barley, which doesn't have to be danced using that hornpipe - which Walsh also recorded in 1933, using the hornpipes Alexander's/Dunphy's. The title given for the first tune derives from piper...
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, HMV B1930. Tom Ennis had recorded the Green Mountain a year or two before, calling it the Maid Behind the Bar. Like Rakish Paddy it is one of the staples of the piper's repertoire. Walsh's music here is very lively albeit taken at a fearsome pace.
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, F2309. Walsh is heard here playing a flat set of pipes, unlike the concert pitch set(s) used on his other recordings. Walsh's student Tommy Kearney said that Walsh was prone to wanting another set of pipes - even if they were on the other side of the country, he had to have them. Sweet Biddy Of Ballyvourney is in O'Neill's; likely this is another instance of Walsh expanding his repertoire through sight reading. Rolling Down the Hill is also an O'Neill title. Willie Clancy...
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, Decca F3817. Walsh had recorded this earlier, but this version is much more exciting, with almost a "Scotch snap" feel in places, and an amazing syncopation between regulators and chanter, that is characteristic of the sides he made for Decca in 1933. Also the tempo is much more moderate than the often rushed speeds of his earlier sides. The flip side of this was Walsh's version of the reel the Bucks of Oranmore, which may be heard on Rounder's CD From Galway to...
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, Decca label, matrix number unknown (F3815?). The first and last reels are perennial piper's favorites, Seamus Ennis for one recorded both in 1940 on acetates made for radio broadcast. Walsh speeds up during the very last bars of the Peeler's Jacket for some reason, but holds his tempo for Dan McCarthy's Fancy, a reel he'd recorded 7 years earlier. This tune is accredited in O'Neill's Music of Ireland to O'Neill's brother-in-law Barney Delaney, a fantastic piper whose music...
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, Edison Bell Winner 5219. The first tune is generally titled Will You Come Home With Me? This is another tune Walsh may have passed on to Willie Clancy, who was a friend and admirer of Walsh's. The Pitchfork Walsh re-recorded a few years after this - the exact date of these recordings Walsh made with the flat set of pipes I'm not certain of. From the sound of things he had a bit of difficulty fingering the flat chanter, possibly owing to his missing the index finger of his...
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, Edison Bell Winner 5219. This very curious item is a "Set Dance" in the later sense of the term, a group of tunes for group dancing, as opposed to the specialty Set Dances for a single dancer, such as the Blackbird or the Job of Journeywork, which Walsh also recorded. "Single, Double, Hornpipe" is on the label, but this trio of tunes are a polka, double jig, and a one part reel. Polkas were sometimes called "Single reels" and presumably that is...
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes and fiddle, unknown piano player, Edison Bell Winner 3914. Three grand reels from the Irish answer to Ennis/Morrison/Muller. Seamus Ennis paired Bonnie Kate and the Milliner's Daughter on acetates he recorded in 1940. These piping versions of Bonnie Kate are much different than the fiddle setting Coleman recorded in the 30s, which has become standard since.
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Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm, Fiddle
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, HMV B 2549. The Green Groves was recorded on wax cylinder by Jem Byrne, who like Walsh was a student of the Rowsome family of pipers. Leo Rowsome recorded the Broom reel the same year as Walsh. It is often called by its title from O'Neill's, Sheehan's reel.
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, Decca F3816. Walsh had recorded Dunphy's in 1924, which can also be heard on this site. Alexander's is printed in O'Neill's Music of Ireland (1903), but strangely enough not in the more common Dance Music of Ireland (1907). Nevertheless it seems to have always been a popular piper's tune. Some more instances of him using the Scotch Snap (a sixteenth note leading into an eighth note) are present in both tunes, a device which was rarely heard after the 78 era. Walsh uses the...
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes and fiddle, unknown piano player, Edison Bell Winner 3913. Barry O'Neill, in the liner notes of the 78s reissue LP Wheels of the World (1975), used this recording as an example of record company indifference to faulty performances, as Walsh stays in the first part of the Humours while O'Mahoney continues into the second. Often record companies would have artists do three takes of a side, and pick the best one. Perhaps this was the best take! The Humours of Bantry is called the...
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, HMV B2548. Walsh's version of the old set dance. The drones are unfortunately a bit dominant in the mix. Balance problems like this were not uncommon with old piping recordings.
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, HMV B1930. Walsh would record Dunphy's again in 1933. Woods of Kilkenny is a tune from O'Neill's. Walsh's student Tommy Kearney said that Walsh would go on the radio and sight read tunes from O'Neill's "fast as the reel." Like many other musicians pipers were fond of "The Book" and used it to expand their repetoire.
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, Decca F3816. Walsh's student Tommy Kearney calls this The College Groves, and his setting and title have been picked up by modern pipers such as Robbie Hannon and Jimmy O'Brien-Moran, who have recorded it on LPs/cassettes/CDs. Seamus Ennis's variant, the New Desmne, had a different first part but otherwise resembles this tune. My first instructor on the pipes pointed out to me that this tune is, in some of its parts, the same as the equally well-known big reel Colonel...
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, HMV B 2549. Walsh's version can be contrasted with those of Tom Ennis and Leo Rowsome. He plays a very sharp C note in the third part, much as he did in his recording of Rakish Paddy.
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes and fiddle, unknown piano player, Edison Bell Winner 3913. James O'Mahoney was featured in Francis O'Neill's book Irish Musicians and Minstrels. According to Tommy Kearney Walsh and O'Mahoney were "great pals." The Flogging Reel was often recorded on 78s, and many different versions exist for comparision.
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, F2309. Walsh is heard here playing a flat set of pipes, unlike the concert pitch set(s) used on his other recordings. Walsh's student Tommy Kearney said that Walsh was prone to wanting another set of pipes - even if they were on the other side of the country, he had to have them. Kearney calls the Mountain Groves the Butchers of Bristol, and learned it from Walsh; Kearney's excellent playing of this beautiful tune is in the book Ceol an Piobarie (Music of the Piper),...
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, Edison Bell Winner 5218. Walsh plays the Pigeon in A, as did Felix Doran on his 78 recorded in the 50s. It appears in the Leo Rowsome Collection in both A and E setttings. The A setting played by these pipers goes up to high C, not an insurmountable difficulty with a good chanter but requiring shifting position on the fiddle, which is difficult to do at speed. Thus some Donegal fiddle versions avoid the high C, or are set in the more fiddle friendly key of G. A "G...
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, HMV B1947. Piper Michael Gallagher recorded this tune around the same time as Walsh, and Gallagher's recording may be heard on this site as well. The two versions differ greatly in ornamentation, and while both are very bouncy performances Walsh's has even more swing. A friend of mine transcribed some of these early piping recordings, and set some of the reels in 12/8, usually used for jigs, instead of the usual 4/4, to convey this swing. Salamanca is a town in Spain,...
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes and fiddle, unknown piano player, Edison Bell Winner 3914. Confusedly, Cork hornpipe was an alternate name for the Harvest Home. The tune they play first Leo Rowsome called the Wexford Hornpipe.
Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm, Fiddle
Source: 78
Irish bagpipes solo, HMV B1947. Walsh re-recorded this for Decca nine years later. It is interesting to compare the two version, he seemed to gain confidence in his playing and have more of a sense of arrangement, as well as keeping his tempo down.
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Topics: Irish, Celtic, Bagpipe, Uilleann, Folk, Oldtime, 78rpm
Source: 78
